Patching Each Other Up
by itsgonnabemay5
Summary: Klance gets beaten up by some aliens on a planet they're lost in. They reach safety and begin patching up each other's wounds and injuries.


Patching Each Other Up

The fight had ended almost as quickly as it had begun. Keith and Lance had fought off all the aliens on the foreign planet, but not without getting pretty banged up in the process. Keith was wiped out, badly injured, and quite out of breath. The last enemy had fallen at his feet after Keith had stabbed him with his bayard and clunked him in the head with his own weapon for good measure.

Breathing heavily, he looked out among the fallen carcasses in search of his boyfriend. "Lance! Where are you?" After no response, he decided to look for him. He took a step and winced, not sure if his ankle could hold him up much longer. He was shaky and weak, drenched in sweat, and it felt like every part of his body had been beaten with a hammer.

Nonetheless, he bit back the pain and limped on, in search for Lance. He heard a soft moan behind him, and that's when he spotted him. Lance was splayed out on the ground, his breathing shallow and ragged. There appeared to be a large gash in his thigh and it was bleeding, soaking through his pants and staining it a deep red.

"Lance!" Keith yelled, trying to run to him. He screamed out from the pain in his ankle, forcing himself to slow down. Every step was agonizing. His sides hurt as well, the running not helping with the pain. He had earned several kicks to the ribs after mouthing off to one of the men, and he felt like it was a good idea at the time. Now, not so much. It felt like a ton of bricks sat on his chest.

He knelt down at Lance's side. "Baby, I'm here. Are you okay?"

Lance relaxed his grimace, relieved to see Keith. "I've honestly been better, but I've had worse. Are you okay?" He began to sit up, but Keith pushed him back down.

"Don't move," Keith ordered. "Where else are you hurt?"

"Don't worry about me, Keith. You're obviously hurt, too. I saw you limping," Lance said. A jolt of pain stabbed his side and he winced.

"I'll be okay, Lance, but I'm worried about you. What hurts?" Keith tried again. He bit back a cry of pain himself as a pain zapped through his right wrist. He had been ignoring the ache, but now it was getting the better of him.

Lance took in a shaky breath. "My chest kinda hurts," he admitted. "And my leg."

Keith nodded and removed Lance's chest plate of his armor and placed his hands on top of Lance's ribs, and Lance instantly hissed in response. Keith proceeded to press on his ribs on all places around his chest and sides, noting when Lance yelped or made a face of pain. It was Keith who cried out when pressing too hard on Lance's left side when he felt a sharp pain in his wrist. Keith immediately withdrew his right hand.

Lance didn't miss it. "Hey, what's wrong? Did I somehow hurt you. . . or something?" he asked, very confused.

"It's nothing," Keith said quickly, not wanting to let on how injured he was himself. "Just relax."

Keith focused again on Lance's ribs, poking and prodding them until Lance screamed in pain when he hit a particularly tender spot on his lower left side.

"Ow! It hurts. Stop!" Lance cried, and there were tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Lance," Keith said, and then he proceeded to lift Lance's t-shirt. The place Keith had last touched that had evoked such an outburst from Lance was swollen and already a shade of purple. "I'm no doctor, but I think you might have a broken rib, maybe two. The others might be bruised."

Then Keith removed Lance's shirt completely and moved down to his injured leg. The wound was long, maybe three inches, and a quarter inch wide. It could probably use some stitches, but that wasn't something Keith was capable of doing, nor did they have the supplies at the moment. Instead, he began wrapping the t-shirt around the gash in his thigh as a makeshift bandage.

Using his right wrist was a problem. It was hurting a lot more than it was just ten minutes ago, and he wasn't able to tie the shirt in a knot over the wound. He had no other option than to ask for help. "Lance, would you mind tying it?"

Lance started to rise, but the pain in his ribs from any movement caused unbearable pain. He yelped, but tried again anyway. Keith was fast to react. He was at his side in a heartbeat, helping him to sit up.

"Keith, what's wrong? Is something wrong with your hand?" Lance asked. He started to tie the t-shirt, grimacing when he pulled it tightly as it sent shocks of pain through his leg.

"It's just my wrist. I think I sprained it somehow," Keith said, looking at it as he gently rotated it a little. "Anyway, we need to get to Blue. There's a medical kit on board."

The blue lion was their only home at the moment. They had somehow gotten separated from Coran and the others, and until they could find them, they had to stay put in Blue.

Keith extended a hand and Lance painfully rose to his feet, keeping pressure off his bad leg. Lance automatically put his arm around Keith's torso and Keith jerked back and screamed in pain.

Lance backed off, almost falling over. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"It's nothing. It's just my side. Let's keep moving," Keith said. He was determined to get to safety so they both could rest. Keith held on to Lance and tried pulling his weight, but he was doing a clumsy job of it. Keith's ankle was shooting daggers when he put pressure on it, and Lance could hardly put any weight on his own leg. They were moving inch by inch but almost falling over.

"Keith, your ankle!" Lance said. "You can't be walking on it." Lance saw the pained expressions on Keith's face while they walked, and he could tell he was in more pain than what he was letting on.

"It's okay, Lance. You're the one bleeding out. I'm more concerned about you."

"Just let me help you," Lance argued. "Put more weight on me. I can tell it hurts," Lance said.

The desert planet was hot and humid, and sweat was perspiring on their brows. Keith sighed. "Okay, but your ribs. I don't want them puncturing a lung or something."

"We'll worry about that when we cross it. Come on." Lance put his arm around Keith's waist and the two began to limp in the direction of the blue lion. Lance was basically in agony, his chest on fire. His thigh felt like a knife was sawing through it with every step.

Keith wasn't faring much better. His ribs were hurting where he had been hit, and Lance sometimes put unwanted pressure on the area as he held his weight, but Keith tried to keep from crying out, resorting to biting his lip instead. Someone had to act brave, even if it was just a facade.

The heat was making him dizzy and he began to sway, blinking away the sweat from his eyes. Keith stumbled, and Lance tried to stable him, but they both ended up crashing to the ground, their injuries throbbing anew.

They paladins lay on the ground in agony, both moaning and groaning. Lance was first to rise. "Keith, you alright?"

Keith lay moaning softly, his hand covering his side as he winced in pain. "It hurts."

"What hurts, honey?" Lance asked.

"Everything."

"Your ribs?"

Keith nodded, his eyes closed and squinting from the pain.

Lance crouched down near him and put his hand on his shoulder. "We're almost there. When we get to blue, I'm gonna look you over, alright? Do you think you can make it?"

"Lance, my ankle. I don't know if I can keep going."

Lance tried to think what they could do. He couldn't carry him. That would be too hard on his injuries. There would be no way. They'd just have to keep walking. "Just take my hand. You can do this. Give me your good hand."

Lance pulled him up, stifling a pained scream when it pulled on his injured ribs. "I've got you."

Keith took a step, tears pooling in his eyes from the pain when he pressed his hurt ankle to the ground. "Lance," he said softly. It tore at Lance's heartstrings painfully.

Lance offered him a smile. "Almost there."

The trek was slow and painful, but they eventually made it. Once they were inside, Lance took charge. Against Keith's protests, Lance sat Keith down as he grabbed the first aid kit. He removed all of Keith's armor until he was just in his pants and black t-shirt.

He slid up his pant leg and examined his ankle, which was red and puffy. "Your ankle's really swollen, baby." He took his ankle in his hands and Keith hissed in pain. "Sorry." Lance grabbed an ace bandage and began wrapping it up. "I think it might be broken."

"Wouldn't surprise me," Keith said through gritted teeth. He sat back, leaning against a wall while watching Lance work. He noticed something he hadn't before. Lance's jaw was bruised, probably from a fist to the face from one of those evil creatures. Keith flinched as Lance finished off the bandage, giving it one last tug.

Lance looked up as he sat Keith's ankle down. "Now, which wrist was it?"

Keith held up his right hand, which happened to be his dominant one, unfortunately. As Lance reached for his wrist, his ribs felt a jolt of pain and he cried out. "Oh! Hm!" He cradled his chest with his hand as he waited for the pain to subside so he could worry about Keith.

Keith looked concerned. "Lance, you okay?" He put a hand to his arm in sympathy.

Lance just nodded and grabbed for Keith's arm again. "Fine." Then he wrapped up Keith's wrist with another bandage. The pain in his wrist started to diminish when he was halfway through. It was while he wrapped that Keith's attention was turned to Lance's bleeding leg. The wound wasn't as deep as he first suspected, but it needed to be cleaned up and wrapped with a fresh bandage.

"How's that?" Lance asked when he was done.

"Much better. We need to change your leg bandage. How does it feel?" Keith asked.

"Still stings just as bad as ever. Thanks for asking," Lance said, trying to add a little humor to their predicament.

Keith chuckled painfully and then sat forward to reach for Lance. "Ow!" he said, stopping when his ribs felt a tug of pain.

"Hey, take it easy. I still haven't checked you over," Lance said.

"It's okay. It can wait," Keith said, and Lance shook his head.

"Nope. Don't think so. I need to check your chest," Lance ordered.

Keith breathed in to respond, but the pain won over. Keith scoffed, but went ahead and lay back down. He felt warm fingers at the base of his stomach as they reached for the hem of his shirt. Lance pulled his shirt up to the top of his chest.

Lance pressed his fingers over a few light bruises on Keith's ribs, earning a wince from the boy. "Got a few bruises over here." He then trailed his fingers lightly over Keith's other side, right under his peck where the darkest of bruises were visible. He pressed down slightly, and that's when Keith yelled out. "Ow!"

Lance frowned. "Anywhere else hurt?" He ran his hand along other areas of his ribcage and pressed down, making sure he was thorough.

Keith shook his head.

"Does it hurt to breathe?" Lance asked.

Keith took in a deep breath. "I guess a little."

"Huh, well, you're lucky then," Lance said, helping the boy up from the lying position.

This implied that Lance was hurting every time he breathed, Keith realized. He felt awful.

"Lance, does it hurt that bad for you?" he asked, his expression somber.

"It's okay. I got this gash on my leg to take my mind off it," Lance said, gesturing to the red-soaked bandage.

Keith couldn't help but smile at Lance's attempt to lighten the mood. "Here, let's get that taken care of." Keith began unwrapping the dressing. The wound was red and bloody, but it looked like it had stopped bleeding for now. A piece of bandage had stuck to the wound, and Lance cried out in pain. "Sorry. The dried blood stuck to it. I'll get it off slowly."

He was able to get the rest of the bandage off with success as Lance held his breath, a sheen of sweat glistening his forehead. Keith took some antiseptic and dabbed it on a cloth from the first aid kit and took a deep breath. "Okay, Lance. This is probably going to sting like crazy."

Lance sat rigidly, preparing himself. "Do it. Just get it over with."

Hesitatingly, Keith applied the cloth to his thigh, and Lance immediately screamed.

"I'm sorry," Keith murmured, though his screams almost had Keith in tears. Keith continued cleaning up the wound, applying light pressure as he rubbed away the blood. "Almost done."

When he had finished, Lance was breathing heavily, his face covered in sweat and tears.

"I'm sorry for hurting you. Are you okay?" Keith asked. He began wrapping his leg in a fresh bandage.

Lance didn't say anything. He kept his head down and let out a few moans. As Keith began putting away the supplies in the kit, he felt Lance's hand around his arm.

"You've got a long cut on your arm," he said. Then he took away the antiseptic from Keith's hands and began treating Keith's bicep with it. Keith didn't even realize he was cut there until he felt the sting. Flinching with each wipe, Keith waited until the worst was over.

"Thanks," Keith said. Lance placed a bandage over the cut and Keith let out a sigh of relief. "Are we good now?"

"I think so. Do we have any pain meds?" Lance asked.

Keith rummaged around the first aid kit with his unbandaged hand, finding one bottle of pills. He shook it. "Sounds almost empty." There were two pills left.

Lance sighed. "Figures."

"Here. You take it," Keith said, offering the bottle to him.

"Me? No, you go ahead."

"Lance," Keith said. "It's okay. I'm not the one making faces every time I draw in a breath. I think you need it more than I do." He pushed the pills in front of Lance, and Lance accepted.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Lance opened the lid, and then realized he needed water. There was a water bottle on the other side of the room against a wall. He started towards it, grimacing from his injuries.

"No! I'll get it," Keith said, and he cried out as he put pressure on his ankle.

"Keith!"

"I've got this," Keith said. He began hopping on his one good leg until he reached the water. He turned around and sat on the ground, not wanting to do that again. Instead, he rolled the water bottle in Lance's direction.

Lance plopped down carefully on the floor himself and downed the pills with the water. Then he scooted over to be next to Keith. He grabbed his hand. "You okay, love?"

"I'm fine," Keith said, nodding, and then placed his head on Lance's shoulder. "When do you think they'll find us?"

"Hopefully soon," Lance said about the rest of the gang. It had been a couple days already. "I think we should get some rest. I'm tired."

"Me, too. Let me know if the pills don't start kicking in soon." Keith turned to look at Lance, noticing the bruise on his jaw had become even darker. He ran his index finger over it. Lance smiled at him before kissing his lips.

As they held each other, they fell into a deep sleep.


End file.
